Child Welfare - Nebraska Appleseed

May is National Foster Care Month. Former foster youth can get health coverage to age 26

Child Welfare / By Becca Brune / 05/08/2015

May is National Foster Care Month, a time to acknowledge the children and youth who have been involved in foster care systems across the United States, and work to improve the child welfare system. In partnership with the Juvenile Law Center (JLC), we are using the month of May to promote an important opportunity under […]

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New child welfare funding primer released

Child Welfare / By Becca Brune / 05/05/2015

Last week, the Nebraska Children’s Commission released a child welfare funding primer focused on Nebraska’s current use of state and federal funding for child welfare and the best ways to leverage those dollars to lead to better outcomes for children who touch the child welfare system. The Nebraska Child Welfare Financing Primer was authored by

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RELEASE – Nebraska must improve accountability, effectiveness in child welfare financing

Child Welfare, Press Release / By Nic Swiercek / 04/29/2015

***For Immediate Release*** April 29, 2015 Contact, Jeff Sheldon Communications Director, Nebraska Appleseed Office: (402) 438-8853 Mobile: (402) 840-7289 jsheldon@neappleseed.org Nebraska must improve accountability, effectiveness in Child Welfare financing New primer offers recommendations to achieve better outcomes for children in foster care LINCOLN — Wednesday, Nebraska Appleseed Child Welfare Director Sarah Helvey issued

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Bureau of Indian Affairs updates Indian Child Welfare Act guidelines

Child Welfare / By Becca Brune / 04/29/2015

For the first time since 1979, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) updated its Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) guidelines. This is a strong step forward, making important improvements with ICWA compliance and in the lives of native children and families involved in foster care. The BIA is also working to implement many of these

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Legislative Update – April 27, 2015

Child Welfare, Economic Justice / By Katie Pitts / 04/27/2015

Several of Appleseed’s priority bills to help hard-working families and protect Nebraska children received great votes in the Legislature last week! Here is our legislative roundup from last week and what lies ahead this week. Working Families bill passes Final Reading LB 89 – This bill to raise the payment rate for the Aid

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Today was a big day in the fight against human trafficking

Child Welfare / By Becca Brune / 04/22/2015

Today was an important day in the fight against human trafficking in our Nebraska and federal governments. With 34 votes, the Nebraska Legislature advanced LB 294 on General File. The bill increases the penalties for human trafficking and protects victims who are minors from being charged in juvenile court. On the national level, after many months

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Legislative Update – April 20, 2015

Child Welfare, Economic Justice, Health Care, Immigrants & Communities / By Katie Pitts / 04/20/2015

Two bills to help working families advanced to Final Reading last week, highlighting a busy week in the Legislature. Here is your Legislative Update for the week of April 20. Working families bills pass Select File It was a good start to last week when two bills to help hard-working families moved to Final Reading

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Foster care family finding bill up for debate

Child Welfare / By Becca Brune / 04/07/2015

Coming up soon – either this week or next week – the Nebraska Legislature will begin debating an important child welfare bill, LB 243. LB 243, introduced by Senator Kate Bolz, includes the creation and improvement of two key programs working towards the goal of permanency and lifelong connections for children in foster care. First,

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Kids in foster care not receiving required health screenings

Child Welfare / By Becca Brune / 03/31/2015

A recent study completed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services revealed that not all children who are in foster care and enrolled in Medicaid are receiving health screenings that are required by federal law. Specifically, the report found that nearly one-third of children in foster care in Texas, California, Illinois, and New

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Child Welfare Bills in the Nebraska Legislature

Child Welfare / By Becca Brune / 03/24/2015

With hearings wrapping up in the Nebraska Legislature, many important issues involving children in foster care have been considered. As the senators move into full day floor debate, we want to highlight a few of our Child Welfare Program priority bills and what they can do for Nebraska’s children in foster care and young adults

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